Envisage
by Fainaru
Summary: "War does not determine what is right, but what is left."   Lightning, Commando of the Mirage Corps, is waged in a war when Mirage is taken down by an unknown cause. To find out fate. To challenged destiny. Is that all it takes?    Noctis/Lightning   OCs


**:: Envisage ::**

_Fabula Nova Crystallis._

_"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."_

Two minutes of silence.  
>It was too boring to bear. Lightning slid out of her muddy attire and slipped on a large grey t-shirt that was lying on the rich royal bed. She sighed and sat down on the bed, her slender legs scooping out of the edge. "So boring."<p>

"Yeah, wait." A voice spoke, sincere, but playful at the same time. "I'm tired too, Lighty."  
>"Don't call me that. And I said I was bored, not tired." She stated.<br>"Then wait, Miss Impatient."

A few seconds passed and she started fiddling with the silk pillow again.  
>"Urgh. Silence. These few seconds feel like hours." She complained.<br>"Okay then, let me fill you in while you're so _bored_." He replied.  
>"What?" She turned to face the closed bathroom door.<br>"It's a secret."  
>"Tell me."<br>"Are you sure? You won't tell _anyone_?" She heard him pulling off a belt.  
>"No, promise. Now tell me."<br>"Okay... well.."  
>"Well what?"<br>"I'm naked underneath these clothes." He chuckled and rolled open the door, "Okay, now go to sleep."  
>"Don't be so persistent. We've got all night to do something else." Lightning hinted. Her pink hair flowed down to her shoulders as she turned to face the Prince of Mirage.<br>"What are you trying to say, Princess?" He leaned closer, with an evil, sly grin.  
>"You know what I mean." Lightning grinned.<br>"Yep. Indeed I do." He slumped down into the bouncy bed with rich silk, "Night night."  
>"Night."<p>

The lights flicked off.

Red, orange, yellow, the dusty, warm, earthy colours circled as a lightshow. They blurred into nothing. All the lights swivelled around and danced in the dark night. The moon was overtaken. The clouds whispered away. The colourful lights turned wispy. They faded in colour. Soon in shape, then completely disintegrated.  
>Sounds like super-sonic racing cars zoomed passed her ears. They shot, in and out, in and out, like record put on replay.<p>

Lightning shot out of her sleep and realized the whole place was put in a supreme heat, like being burnt in an oven and the door wasn't letting anything out.

"Alejandro." She said, "Alejandro, wake up." She shoved him around and heard him groan. She blinked twice and looked around. The whole room was dark, apart from the small flares of bright light that twinkled through the window and reflected on the walls.

"You've _got_ to wake up. Now!" She grabbed his blanked and pulled it off.  
>There was a small pool of dried blood that stained the mattress below Alejandro. She gasped and grabbed his unconscious body and dragged him to the bathroom.<p>

She sat him down on the toilet seat and checked his pulse. Thready. She slid across to the cabinet and slashed her hand across the different compartments, in search of a first aid-kit. She was never trained in the medical branch of the military training, but it was basic knowledge to treat someone who was bleeding; and yet, she didn't know properly.

She grunted, as she couldn't find any bandages at all, only antiseptics. Desperate, she grabbed a t-shirt out of the laundry basket and washed it under the sink and cleaned her hands.

"Hang in there," She knelt down beside him and pulled up his top. The cut was a mid-deep gash on his left rib. He groaned as she softly touched the cut. She jabbed a dab of antiseptic on his wound and rubbed it around the edges. He made a soft cry and attempted to stop, but didn't continue. She frowned and washed his wound out, and bundled it with the shirt. "Hold it there." She took his hand and placed it on the shirt to keep it in place. "And wait here."

She silently crept out of the bathroom and checked if anything else was wrong. She took her lustrous gun blade and Alejandro's cloak that hung from the rack. She carefully placed it over his shoulders and leaned down to face him. "We have to go. Something's happened to Mirage and I don't know what." She looked at him. His face was stern, yet his eyes were so melancholy.

"I can't just…" He started, Lightning nodded. She didn't understand. "How did I get…" He continued. What was happening? Why would someone want to come and just _cut_ a gash into his left rib? Wouldn't they have killed him when they had the opportunity? Or did they want them to know that someone's been there? Was it because Mirage was slowly rising up the ladder of power? She didn't know.

She took his receiver from the coat and whispered into it, "What's happening down on your side, Corporal?" Alejandro's short breaths made Lightning nervous.

"_We've been getting survey reports that there are several air ships that have hovered over our boundaries with their headlights off. Some say they spotted distant explosions, but none have reached the military perimeter yet, I am told. Sargent Lightning, Is the Prince alright?_" The corporal replied.  
>"He's been injured, not too severe. Is our situation serious? Is an evacuation needed?" She asked.<p>

No reply.

"Hello? Corporal?"

No reply, still.

"Crap." Lightning propped the receiver back on his coat as she heard distant bombings. The blinding white flash was even seen from the barred windows of the bathroom. "Crap!" She carried and used her arm to support Alejandro and rushed to the outside of the room. Nurses, doctors, trainees and priests were screaming and evacuating the building.

She took quick steps down the flights of stairs. Screams, frightened children and overstressed trainees were heard. No enemy troops were sighted, though she knew that any moment, Mirage would be infiltrated. Two other soldiers stopped in their pace and rushed towards her.

"Ah! That's the Prince of Mirage!" She heard one of them cry in shock.  
>"We'll help you, Miss!" Another said. He grabbed Alejandro by one arm and the other soldier grabbed him by the other. "Let's go. Follow us, Miss!"<p>

While they raced passed the hallways, Alejandro regained his consciousness. He protested when they suggested that he shouldn't run on his own. He shook his head and got off. The soldiers looked like they just saw a cat get run over, worried sick that the Prince may collapse any moment, but after a few minutes they re-adjusted to their normal faces.

There were grey, run down buildings across the Arena. Little children were crying in their mother's laps and a few of them were holding up a ragged cloth that read: _"Bomb shelter"_.

There were helicopters not too far from them. Most of them had already taken off. Alejandro hesitated but stopped in his pace.

"Wait, Lightning. These people won't be safe."  
>"What are you saying Alejandro? We've got to go. Mirage is in danger, don't you see?"<br>"Lightning." He gave her a sincere look. It looked as if he was apologizing.  
>"Don't do this."<br>"You don't do this to me. Let's me _go_. _Now_."  
>"No."<br>"I'm the Prince of Mirage, Lightning. This is my country. You think I'd let those innocent citizens of my country die?"

The look she returned was entangled. "Are you joking? You're crazy!" One moment was enough; he already took off in the flight of soundless steps.  
>Lightning's hand reached out to his fast faded figure, but knew that if she did drag him back, she would only burden him of his country. She hastened her pace to the helicopter, its blades rumbled like thunder. The two soldiers pulled her on board and shouted to the pilot that they could take off.<p>

She looked out the window.  
>Smoke, rubble, disaster, dullness. The ringing of screams didn't tear off. She hoped that both Alejandro and the Mirage would be alright.<br>_What am I thinking? Of course they will._

It was late morning when Lightning woke up. An unfamiliar face that was less than half a meter away greeted her. His face was smooth, unlike any skin of an experienced soldier. His hair flowed perfectly in a style, just like a pretty boy would, taking a long time in the morning.

One of the soldiers who was on the helicopter with her walked in with three cups of a bitter smell drink, "Hey miss, you're awake." He knelt down and gave her a sweet welcoming smile. "We've landed in a small town. Still don't know where we are yet but I've helped myself to three cups of warm water." He took one of the cups and held it to her face, under her nose. The smell was putrefying.  
>"What sort of water is this?" She asked, a little bemused.<br>"Ground water." He replied, "You can call me Alpha. I've seen you around the military, but not very sure who you really were."  
>Lightning snorted inside. Usually when she introduced her title, the little chicken grunts would kiss the floor, apologize that they didn't know before hand. This Alpha guy obviously didn't seem like the type. "Lightning. Sergeant of Mirage. What's your title?"<p>

"Ah." He cleared his throat, "I'm just Alpha, I guess. A soldier training under the Frontier Division, part of the Specialise corps... You know, the corps that put people professionally trained in one skill together. I was supposed to be a swordfighter, I didn't really pass that so I settled for a normal gunslinger."  
>"And your friend?" She pointed rudely at the pretty boy, "Does he talk?"<br>"Yeah." He replied sternly. His voice was melodical, charming but vigorous. "Lucis. _Colonel_ Lucis." Emphasis on Colonel. He held out a keen hand.  
>Lightning was discomforted. A handsome man, who looks like had no military experience what-so-ever, was a Colonel, two ranks higher than she was.<br>"Right." Embarrassed was much more of a suitable word.

Lucis looked at her in discomfort, "Are you alright, Lightning? Mirage was in a disaster..." When she came to think about it, she had the guilty conscience of not thinking about Mirage one bit after the break of dawn. "Huh... I'm sure the Prince will be fine."  
>Lucis stared into space, but nodded anyway. "Are you all ready for a taste of war?"<p>

Alpha leaned against the dirty wall and happily sipped down his ground water, while Lightning didn't take one bit out of that filth. "It's really war, huh?" Alpha frowned.  
>"It's what we've all been trained for." Lightning replied. Somehow, war didn't seem like it was really happening. Of course she'd seen it with her very eyes, but somehow, all of it wasn't convincing her that war was actually happening. It seemed too distant. Too un-real.<br>"Makes me wonder why we're all soldiers anyway." The other soldier walked in, with a handful of plucked berries and fresh fruit. "I mean a soldier will fight long and hard, shed blood and tears, all for a bit of coloured ribbon."

"Hey, Delta, got any idea where we are?" Alpha asked.  
>"I dunno, seems like we're somewhere in a baron plain." He gave a quick glance to Lucis, then back at Alpha. "Lucis should know."<br>"Maybe war is a good thing for you, Delta." Lucis shook his head, "I think war might be God's way of teaching you geography."  
>"Ah, shut up, we're somewhere in a field." Delta pouted.<br>"That was basically what you said before." Lucis snickered.  
>"Whatev's, Lucy."<br>"Don't call me that."  
>"Sorry, Lucy."<br>Lucis grunted, "We're in the fields just North of Pulse. Since it's my home kingdom. The most logical thing to do is go there, right?"  
>Alpha and Delta gave Lucis some sort of death glare, or some incoherent facial expression like he did something wrong, or slipped out the wrong word. Lightning looked at them.<br>"What? I'm a _citizen_of Pulse." Lucis stated blankly.  
>Alpha and Delta looked like they both stopped suffocating and sighed a breath of relief.<p>

The dark shadows were cast over the darkness. Everything was black, if not, then dark. Nothing could be seen, apart from a small light source from the ceiling.

"Ugh... where am I?" Alejandro grunted and tried to make another light source.  
>"Tenebrae." Came a solemn reply. Alejandro shrieked, and cursed himself for being such a girl, since the reply came from a lady.<br>"Tenebrae? Why-"  
>"We saved you. Well, I saved you. Your country was being destroyed, no?"<br>Her figure appeared in the luminescent light, long blonde hair and a sleek white dress that draped to her knees.  
>"So it did happen, huh?" Alejandro sighed. "I..."<br>"I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't prevent it." She cut him off.  
>"Who says I can trust you anyway?" Alejandro stood on his feet and glared at her. He summoned an illuminated gun and a wispy sword. They drifted in the thin air of light blue.<br>"You don't have to trust me. No one trusts Tenebrae. It's alright, Prince of Mirage. We're always misunderstood, but we're used to it." She didn't move in her place. Alejandro didn't know what to say.

"My father..." He groaned. "My father was murdered. Do you know who was the cause?" He asked. Right in front of his eyes, when he ran after a small child who was running into the palace. "It was an assassin, I know it. I couldn't tell where he was from... He just... he just _killed_ him, that son of a bitch!" He clenched his fists tightly by his sides.  
>"Prince of Mirage, I can assure you that I won't hurt you."<br>"Heh, like hell."  
>"I don't expect you to trust me, nor believe me."<br>"You can count on me for that."  
>"I assume it was Gran Pulse's doing." Her tone was dull and full of fear.<br>"Why would you think that?"

She paused, "If you think about it..." She walked towards him. He was on guard and didn't let his defences flicker for a second. "Pulse seems to have 'No awareness' on this situation of your war. Even Tenebrae, a smaller kingdom, knows of your war. The largest kingdom in this country isn't notified of such a matter? Don't you think they could be pretending?"

A pause.

"You do want revenge, don't you?" She whispered, her voice now full of excitement.  
>"To me, you sound like a villain." He retorted. "I can handle my own things. Who <em>are<em>you anyway? I don't recall you saving me, or anything like that. It sounds more like capture. Besides, how did Tenebrae know of our war in the first place? There was no evidence of Gran Pulse being the catalyst of this war. Assumption must have verification before action, Miss."

"As I said, I don't expect you to trust or believe me. Most kingdoms only judge us by the stereotypical 'darkness' power that we possess. If we wanted to wage in war, wouldn't have already done so long ago? We've got all the arms and weaponry we need, yet we don't. We're just a kingdom like your very own."  
>"War... that mad game the world so loves to play." Alejandro hissed.<br>"Says the Prince whose control of the fast growing Military kingdom."  
>"You never answered my question."<br>"I'm the Princess of Tenebrae, Stella. I speak on behalf of the kingdom. You either back out of my offer, or accept it. In the media, everyone already recognizes Mirage as a gone-case. So what are you going to do?"  
>"What offer? Where are you going with this conversation? First you tell me that you 'saved' me, which I don't recall, then you tell me that you want me to trust and believe you, even though you don't think I will. What's the point in that? Next you're blaming Gran Pulse for causing the war on Mirage. You sound like a typical villain, plus you're confusing me about some sort of <em>offer<em> that you're placing, and then you've drifted away from the subject of my father's murder."  
>"Prince of Mirage, have you ever re-called any of our Tenebrae soldiers in your army?"<br>"No."  
>"Prince of Mirage, have you ever re-called any of Gran Pulse' soldiers in your army?"<br>He murmured, "So what? There are a few here and there, but what's the difference? There are millions of soldiers from Cocoon, and tonnes from Mirage itself."  
>"Exactly. Cocoon isn't a vast kingdom like Pulse, who can easily hire spies on your kingdom. Why do you think they're large? Because they surge for power? They're hungry for more, dear Prince. Don't you see? Your kingdom of Mirage was growing faster and faster, so fast that the soldiers in training in Cocoon came to train in your military ward. Pulse is rich in all categories, except you beat them in one. And that's military and arms. So long as they conquer your land, they will conquer all. Tenebrae is fearful of that. We've been the smallest kingdom in all. They'll start with us first, since we're the most 'evil' stereotypical. Even if you're not arrogant, you will think so too. Everyone is sceptical over stereotypes.<br>"What they were planning is to take down your kingdom, then ours. Don't you see the line between the lands? They definitely don't and they _will_ conquer our kingdom like they already have with yours."  
>Alejandro stayed silent. All the words that she said did in fact make sense, even though it was convincing him that the truth was all there, he wasn't sure if he was to believe it.<p>

"How about my father? How do you explain that?"  
>"Obviously, if Pulse is good enough for spies, they can easily hire and assassin. Murdering your father would result in a total chaos of your kingdom. That's part one of their plan and they <em>will<em> be launching part two if you don't help us. Heres the deal, Tenebrae will help re gather your lost soldiers and citizens of Mirage, I will help you find out who the murderer of your father was, as long as you agree to get your sweet revenge on Pulse with Tenebrae. They've been hurting out kingdom for a long time."  
>"What makes me trust you?"<br>Stella gave him a sugar smile. For a second, she seemed innocent. "It's up to you. Ultimately it's your choice, Prince of Mirage."  
>"What makes the agreement solid?"<br>She held up a glowing contract and looked into his ghostly white eyes sincerely.  
>"We will infiltrate in three days. As I said, we have all the arms and military. All we need is a little push from the leader."<p>

"Alright, that's it - _get off_ Delta!" Alpha abruptly stopped the golden, majestic bird and shoved Delta off the back.  
>"W-what! Lucis! Did you see that?" Delta retorted.<br>"That's what you get for being annoying, I guess?" Lucis replied and signalled the chocobo to keep walking. Lightning followed onwards, ignoring the situation.  
>"I <em>to~ld<em> you to stop talking to the chocobo like that, and what did you do?" Alpha said, with his chin up. "Just saying." He continued to follow the line.  
>Delta gaped. "Are you guys <em>serious<em>? You're not gonna just... _make_me walk all the way there, right?" He sighed and jogged to catch up with the three chocobo riders.

By the time they reached the top of the Archylte Steppe, it was nearing dusk. The sky was turning darker by the second. Over the horizon, they could all clearly see there were a small spot of black, heading their way faster by the second. "What is that?" Alpha asked, pointing to the sky. "Lucis, do you see that?"  
>Delta ran up the hill and showed his tire by huffing and falling to the ground, gasping for air. "What now?" He sighed.<br>"Drones? They're military units. Definitely not ours." Lucis groaned as he dismounted his chocobo. "We have to move. And quick." He issued orders to Alpha and Delta, they nodded and dismounted their chocobos. Delta patted the neck of his chocobo and whispered to it softly, "Run along now, go be free... and don't let those evil people get to you." He took its reigns and let it free. "Go with your buddy here." He pointed to Alpha's chocobo. "Don't separate..."

"C'mon Delta. Don't talk to your dear, sweet, only friends." Alpha muttered. He waited for him to finish his little moment.  
>Lightning got off her chocobo and walked towards Lucis. "They're military aircrafts. Not from Mirage."<br>"Yeah. I sort of confirmed that a few minutes ago." He replied, "We better get to somewhere secluded. Can't let them see us here. To everyone, anything outside of Pulse Citadel is monstrous."  
>"Really?" Lightning scoffed, "I guess they haven't been here, huh? Never seen these beautiful -" She paused. "These... birds before."<br>Lucis smirked, "Guess so." He cocked his head to the direction Alpha and Delta were heading. "We're all from Pulse here, but I guess they seem to have remembered the way better than I have," He snickered, "We're gonna have to follow them."

"Lucis!" Delta beckoned hastily and after a few seconds, he beckoned again. "Come here!" He spoke in the tone that wasn't loud, yet wasn't soft.  
>"What is it?" He fastened his pace to follow Delta who entered a small cavern.<br>Lightning followed him, expecting to see something fantastic, like food, or something like a good shelter. Ah, but she was disappointed.  
>"Are you serious?" Lucis laughed softly.<br>"What?" Delta smiled and picked up the lost kitten and cuddled it into his warm arms. "Everything will be alright now, Hello Kitty." He smiled warmly and looked into its small face.  
>"Are you going to ask me if you can keep it?" Lucis continued teasing him.<br>"Ah, but he'll have to go through me first." Alpha gave him a concerned look, "Come on Delta, I know it's cute, but we're in the midst of a war... should you really be..."  
>"But Alpha… I only want to keep it because of Beta." He gave a confident smile, "We'll see him again, so I thought I'd bring along a gift." He looked back at the small kitten.<p>

Both Lucis and Alpha looked worried, they both looked at each other and gave concerning looks. Lightning groaned inside her head for the lack of responsibility these people had. "Look, you can keep the kitty -" She paused again, and groaned, "You can keep the _kitten_, since it has some sort of sentimental value to you - I don't know who or what Beta is - but be aware; if you're _ever_ distracted by that kitten, it'll be thrown away. There's a war waging, and Alpha was right about what he said. I'm..." She looked at both Lucis and Alpha, "We're counting that you can take care of it properly for whatever the reason is - uhh... let's just keep going, okay? We can't have any distractions. One mistake and we're all gone." She sighed and looked at the ground, her body language signalling she wasn't expecting any reply.

Delta grimaced but was alright with the agreement. "Thanks, Lightning. Uh... I'll take care of it..." He looked at Lucis and Alpha with a scared inferior setback, but kept quiet and followed Alpha to lead them to their seclusive place. Wherever that was.

Dark again.  
>Was it that time already?<br>I didn't even realise.

Delta was leaning on Alpha's arm and snoring softly. Lucis? He was leaning against the tree and he looked so peaceful. I volunteered the first watch. What can I say? These people are irresponsible. The night in Pulse was so much more different than Mirage. Or... Cocoon. I didn't even want to remember that place. Ugh.  
>It was so much more blue here. Everything was eerily silent. Maybe it was because there really wasn't any inhabitants here - no humans, no l'cies, only fiends. Apparently all the residents reside in the Pulse capitol - Gran Citadel. I guess I'll only find out if we make it there.<p>

It sort of made me feel guilty afterwards, to think _again_ that I was so absorbed in the present I didn't give one thought about Mirage, or it's Prince. Were these irresponsible guys really that interesting? I don't know. They were all Pulse born, and I'm the only one from... Cocoon. Does it really make me that different? Pff. Whatever.

The clouds were circling the bright white moon. The leaves rustled in the wind. Sitting on the log near a distinguished fire wasn't warm at all. It was actually pretty cold. I stayed on watch for about two hours until I heard distant footsteps.  
>By that time, it was already the darkest.<br>I silently pulled out the gun blade by my back thighs and moved with dexterity through the shrub till I pressed my back against the tree bark, moving an inch to see what was it that made the noise.  
>Didn't see anything.<br>I quickly checked back at base.  
>Three still silently sleeping.<br>Did they really trust me to keep watch?  
>They really <em>were<em> irresponsible. We only just met the day before and they think just because we're from the same base in Mirage, we can trust each other.  
>Or maybe they're tricking me too?<p>

I heard another rustle, instantly I shot my look to the right, where the noise came from. I saw a slight shadow casted from the moonlight. I took a silent breath before taking another lithe step to the right.  
>Still nothing. Didn't see anyone.<br>Maybe it was a fiend?  
>I looked back at base. All three were still there.<p>

I made my way back sprightly and was already fully alert and aware.  
>In a flash I heard quick, light footsteps tapping on the ground, gaining pace towards base. I traced my gun blade and it sleekly transformed into a sword. I used the reflection to see 80 degrees more to each of my directional points.<p>

_To the left_.

In the bat of an eye, I caught the sight of a shaft of bright coloured hair shift between two trees. I concentrated hard and could hear the silent breathing of the three behind me, and the unknown in front.  
>In a dire moment, I sliced the branches. I heard a gasp.<p>

It was a guy, for sure. Not a fiend.  
>Who would be out of Pulse Citadel? Could it possibly be another military unit -<br>I heard a thread at the corner of my Guardian Corps uniform. I swivelled directly into his chest and caught him onto the ground, slashing my blade right into the fabric just a few centimetres off his arm. I quickly jabbed my boot into his knee and held him down aggressively. "Who are you?" I yelled. I could hardly see him in the shadow.

All I could hear was short pants, he struggled but then stopped after he saw Lucis run towards me. He looked shocked. "It's alright, let him go." Lucis tapped my shoulder and nodded. "He's one of us."  
>I gasped and abruptly let him go, turning in a circle before walking a few steps away from Lucis and this apparent comrade.<br>Idiot. So embarassing...

He helped him up and dusted him off, "You're okay." Lucis smiled and slapped him a hard handshake. "Welcome back." He smiled and gestured both him and myself to follow him back to base, which was about five meters from where I was.

"Sorry." Lucis apologized to the comrade, "You must've thought she took us captive." He snickered, "It was probably the uniform, right?"  
>He pointed out the uniform. Of course. I was part of Guardian Corps in Mirage, while he was part of the Frontier Division, the foot soldiers, the squadron that took care of the Specialise corps. His uniform was black, while mine was closer to the white.<br>"Y-Yeah…" The comrade finally spoke. He seemed a little shocked, yet relieved at the same time, "I'm glad you are fine, Colonel. And I see those two are the same as ever, great!"

Lucis nodded, "Yep. That's Lightning. She's with us." He introduced, "Lightning, that's Cain. He's part of our Specialise Corps." Lucis gave a warm welcome back and decided to take the second watch.  
>Uh... By then I think I probably did want a rest. A little bit of embarrassment is tiring. You know.<br>"Oh, by the way, we go by A for Alpha, C for Cain, D for Delta, and L for Lucis." Lucis informed, "Just in case you hear us talking with initials, that's what we mean." He assured and then took up second shift, while I dozed away.

Woo, so first fanfic I've written for FFXIII (Can't wait for FF Versus~), but I promise you I will try to finish this. :D Hope you don't mind some OC interaction, but hopefully you will enjoy it either way. ^^ The story line isn't confusing, is it? It's full of deception, so I hope you can keep up!


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